The dining companion who witnessed the execution-style killing of a Sydney underworld figure screamed “stop and help” after discovering him lying face down on a footpath, a jury has heard.
Samuel John Rokomaqisa, 35, is on trial charged with the murder of Bilal Hamze and conspiring to kill his younger brother Ibrahem, before stealing a car in 2021.
The NSW Supreme Court jury heard on Wednesday the female sex worker, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had dined with Mr Hamze just before he was gunned down on a busy street in the Sydney CBD on June 17 that year.
In her police statement read to the court, she said the pair were looking for a taxi after leaving Kid Kyoto restaurant when she heard two bangs and ran into an alcove before another series of gunshots rang out.
“I’ve never heard anything like it,” she said.
“I ran out to find him … I looked around and saw him face down on the footpath”.
“It all happened too fast.”
The court heard the woman attempted to call for help but had to hang up because she was too distraught.
“I was screaming ‘stop and help’. I didn’t know what to do,” she said.’I was scared for my life’
Another witness told the court she was “terrified” when she heard three rounds of gunshots.
“At that point in time I knew there was a big issue,” she said.
In an audio recording of the woman’s phone call to triple-0 played to the jury, she could be heard saying, “There was a car that came past and shot a man”.
Bilal Hamze leaving his apartment for the final time before his fatal shooting. (Supplied: NSW Supreme Court)
She then told operators he was groaning as she attempted to render assistance.
A statement from a taxi driver was also read out to the court, where he recalled flashes and loud bangs coming from a black Audi’s front passenger window.
“[I] immediately ducked down,” he said.
“I was scared for my life.”
Earlier on Wednesday, the court heard from Detective Senior Constable Lauren Bennett who detailed a breakdown between influential alleged figures in the warring Alameddine and Hamzy family networks, who were locked in a feud over controlling Sydney’s drug trade.
Mr Hamze was the cousin of notorious crime boss and Brothers 4 Life founder Bassam Hamzy.
Pair seen ‘running for their lives’
The funeral for underworld boss Bilal Hamze, who died in a shooting in Sydney’s CBD in June 2021. (AAP)
On Tuesday, the court was shown CCTV footage of what would become Mr Hamze’s final moments alive.
The vision captured Mr Hamze and the woman leaving the restaurant as a black Audi circled nearby streets.
Crown Prosecutor Kate Ratcliffe told the jury dash cam vision from the taxi showed the pair “running for their lives” after two shots were fired out of the luxury car.
Mr Hamze could then be seen collapsing onto the footpath and rolling onto a gutter.
The trial before Justice Robert Hulme continues on Thursday.
Mr Rokomaqisa pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied having any connection to the Alameddines.
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